Sharing is caring!

This broccoli salad with bacon is the best broccoli salad.  This is a raw broccoli salad with sunflower seeds and the best broccoli salad dressing recipe.  It’s a great side dish for BBQ’s or a potluck or an everyday weekday dinner.

This easy broccoli salad recipe with bacon is loaded with flavor but you can defining customize it and make it your own.  I like to add loads of bacon, craisins, sunflower seeds, apple chunks, a little red onion, and of course, raw broccoli. 

Here are a few more ideas you can add to your broccoli bacon salad. 

Pomegranates

Chunks of pepper jack cheese

Sliced almonds

Cauliflower

Shredded carrots

Pine nuts

Cheddar cheese chunks

This fresh broccoli salad can be a perfect fit,  what your family loves. It can be a simple broccoli salad to be bursting with many textures and flavors.

This is the best broccoli salad ever.  It’s one of those perfect potluck salads everyone loves.

How to make broccoli salad:

Start by washing all your produce.  Let it air dry while you prepare your dressing and other ingredients. 

Cut your broccoli into 1/2-3/4” pieces.  This is a nice bite-sized piece of broccoli.

Cut your apple into 1/2” chunks.  I like to use a really crispy kind of apple.  A fuji, gala, or honey crisp work great, even a Granny Smith apple would work great.  Put your apple in 1/2 cup of cold water with a tablespoon of Lemon Juice until you are ready to add it to the salad.  This will keep the apple fresh and without it turning brown.

For the bacon in this broccoli and bacon salad,  you can cut fresh slices of bacon into chunks and fry them in a frying pan until crisp.  A shortcut to this process is to use pre-made bacon bits.  Lay the bacon bits on a paper towel and microwave them for about 60 seconds or until they are slightly browner than before.  This is an easy way to crisp pre-made bacon.

To make the best broccoli salad dressing recipe, add the mayonnaise to a small bowl.  Add about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar.  I like to use lemon juice.  I think it tastes fresher than vinegar but either will do. You can use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.  Also, I like to use white, granulated sugar but maple syrup works well too. 

For the crasins in this broccoli craisin salad, you can use traditional raisins, raisins, or white raisins.  Whatever you decide a broccoli salad with bacon and raisins is delicious!

This is the best broccoli salad ever and is amazing with these great main dishes….

Simple Oven Baked Chicken Breast

Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks

Southwest Chicken Kabobs

3 Citrus Marinade

Monterey Chicken

0 from 0 votes

Print

Broccoli Salad With Bacon

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

This broccoli salad with bacon is the best broccoli salad. This is a raw broccoli salad with sunflower seeds and the best broccoli salad dressing recipe. It’s a great side dish for BBQ’s or a potluck or an everyday weekday dinner.  

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 15 people

Calories: 362 kcal

Ingredients

• 6 cups Broccoli chopped into 1/2'-3/4" pieces
• 1 lb Bacon or about a cup of cooked Bits, cooked and cooled
• 1/2 large Red Onion Diced into very small pieces
• 1/2 cup Craisins raisins, or white raisins
• 1/3 cup Sunflower Seeds roasted and salted
• 2 med Apples fuji, gala, honeycrisp or another crisp variety
• 1 Tablespoons Lemon Juice add to 1/2 cup cold water to soak the apples in so they don't turn brown

Dressing for Broccoli Salad

• 1 cup Mayo
• 2 Tablespoonas Lemon Juice
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar

Instructions

Salad Dressing for Broccoli Salad

1. in a small bowl, combine the mayo, lemon juice, and sugar.  Stir with a whisk until combined. Set aside. 

For the Raw Broccoli Salad

1. Wash your broccoli and apples before cutting.  

2. Cup broccoli into 1/2'-3/4" pieces.  This makes a nice bite-size. Cut the apples into 1/2" pieces.  Soak the apples in a bowl with 1/2 cup of cold water and the lemon juice.  This will keep the apples from turning brown.  DIce the half of onion into1/3" diced pieces.

3. If you are using raw bacon, cut into 1/2" chunks and cook in a skillet until the bacon is slightly crispy and golden brown. (If you are using the pre-made bacon bits, just spread them out on a paper towel, on top of a paper plate.  Cook them in the microwave for 1 minute or until they are bubbling and slightly brown.)

4. In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, bacon bits, red onion, craisins, sunflower seeds, and diced apple.  Pour about 2/3 of the dressing on the broccoli salad. Mix until the dressing covers all the salad.  Add more dressing and mix again, if desired. 

    I don't love a lot of extra dressing on my broccoli salad.  I like to barely be coated so it's not dry but you can use up to the entire cup of salad dressing. 
   

Nutrition Facts

Broccoli Salad With Bacon

Amount Per Serving

Calories 362 Calories from Fat 279

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 31g 48%

Saturated Fat 7g 35%

Cholesterol 32mg 11%

Sodium 384mg 16%

Potassium 285mg 8%

Total Carbohydrates 15g 5%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Sugars 9g

Protein 7g 14%

Vitamin A 6.5%

Vitamin C 51.9%

Calcium 3.1%

Iron 4.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

The Carefree Kitchen Socials:

I’d love to connect with you on social media.  Come find me!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecarefreekitchen/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_carefree_kitchen/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thecarefreekitchen/pins/

Save this for later!!